SK Capital Launches Ingredients Platform with Buy of J&K from CORE
November 20, 2023|John McNulty
SK Capital has closed its acquisition of J&K Ingredients, a maker and supplier of food and beverage ingredients, from CORE Industrial Partners. CORE acquired J&K Ingredients in October 2020 from privately held Sausville Foods.
J&K’s bakery ingredients total more than 400 SKUs in 13 categories including bread and roll bases, dough conditioners, milk replacers, flavors, emulsions and stabilizers. J&K’s customers include large bakery companies, commercial bakeries, and bakery product wholesalers and distributors. The company’s products have FDA, Halal, Kosher, FSSC 22000 (Foundation for Food Safety Certification) and organic certifications.
Source: J&K Ingredients
J&K developed the bakery industry’s first natural mold inhibitor more than four decades ago. Mold inhibitors are used in the baking industry to enhance taste, texture, aroma, consistency, and shelf life of food products. Mold inhibitors can be split into two categories – synthetic and natural – and the food industry is moving increasingly towards natural mold inhibitors to allow for simpler and cleaner labels on food products.
J&K’s product lines include Bred-Mate, a natural mold inhibitor that inhibits mold growth in sliced bread; and SOR-Mate, a fruit-based natural mold inhibitor used as an alternative to chemical preservatives such as sorbic acid or potassium sorbate. J&K, led by CEO Ricardo Alvarez, was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey.
Source: J&K Ingredients
“SK Capital’s history of success in the food and beverage and broader ingredients industry and its focus on accelerating growth make them an ideal partner for J&K,” said Mr. Alvarez. “Most importantly, they share our belief that J&K is uniquely positioned for the long term to capitalize on the industry-wide movement to clean label products and are committed to investing in its growth. We look forward to working together to bring ‘better for you’ products to consumers.”
“Clean label food preservation technologies are an increasingly important pillar of sustainability by reducing food waste and the associated environmental footprint, and J&K has already established itself as a critical, value-added clean label partner to its bakery customers,” said Mario Toukan, a managing director at SK Capital. “We feel privileged to play a part in bringing clean label preservative solutions to the broader food and beverage industry with SOR-Mate, as well as in building out a more comprehensive suite of natural and clean label solutions as we embark on J&K’s next phase of growth.”
“SK Capital has significant experience investing in ingredients businesses, and we believe J&K represents a tremendous opportunity to create a leading clean label ingredients platform,” said Dan Lory, a principal at SK Capital. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the J&K team to build upon the company’s stellar reputation and technical achievements to-date.”
SK Capital invests in the specialty materials, chemicals, and pharmaceutical sectors and typically invests equity of $100 million to $200 million in each portfolio company. In February 2019, the firm held a final closing of SK Capital Partners Fund V LP with total capital of $2.1 billion. SK Capital is currently raising its sixth fund with a $2.75 billion target and a $3.5 billion hardcap. SK Capital was co-founded by Barry Siadat and Jamshid Keynejad and is based in New York City.
“We are proud of what the J&K and CORE team accomplished in recent years and believe J&K will continue to serve the clean label preservative category for food and beverage applications with excellence and innovation,” said John May, the managing partner of CORE. “J&K is well equipped to execute upon its strategic growth plan, and we wish the best to the team going forward.”
Chicago-based CORE makes control equity investments of up to $100 million in North America-based companies with revenues of up to $200 million and EBITDA of up to $20 million. Sectors of interest include a range of specialty verticals within the manufacturing and industrial technology sectors.
Harris Williams was the financial advisor to J&K and CORE on this transaction. Debt financing for the acquisition of J&K was provided by KeyBanc Capital Markets, Kayne Anderson Private Credit, and Benefit Street Partners.
SK Capital has closed its acquisition of J&K Ingredients, a maker and supplier of food and beverage ingredients, from CORE Industrial Partners. CORE acquired J&K Ingredients in October 2020 from privately held Sausville Foods.
“Clean label food preservation technologies are an increasingly important pillar of sustainability by reducing food waste and the associated environmental footprint, and J&K has already established itself as a critical, value-added clean label partner to its bakery customers,” said Mario Toukan, a managing director at SK Capital. “We feel privileged to play a part in bringing clean label preservative solutions to the broader food and beverage industry with SOR-Mate, as well as in building out a more comprehensive suite of natural and clean label solutions as we embark on J&K’s next phase of growth.”
Chicago-based 
